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9 POLICEMEN KILLED BY MILITANTS IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN

9 POLICEMEN KILLED BY MILITANTS IN LAHORE,   PAKISTAN   Gunmen, on Tuesday 07/12/2012, have shot dead 9 Pakistani police, and wounded eight others after storming a building in the eastern city of Lahore where they were sleeping, police said. Thursday's raid was the second attack in three days on security personnel in the province of Punjab, raising fears of a fresh wave of violence in the political heartland of Pakistan away from the Northwest NWFP, the base for armed Taliban fighters. The attackers arrived on motorbikes and targeted a building in the densely populated area of Ichra, in the Rasool Park area where up to 35 police and prison staff were living, mostly officers from the troubled FATA who were in Lahore for training (see also - Lahore Shooting 01.27.11). "The gunmen came early in the morning, entered the building and opened fire," Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen told the AFP news agency. The attackers stormed the compound, housing police officers undergoing further training as prison guards, with assault rifles and grenades. Shafqat Imran, one of the eight officers wounded, said eight to 10 attackers, with faces hidden behind hoods, stormed into the compound and started shooting randomly. They shouted "God is great, (Allah who Akbar)" then shot the policemen one by one, said Imran, speaking from a hospital bed. The gunmen then fled the scene. Ahsanullah Ahsan, spokesman for the Pakistani Tehrik-e-Taleban - TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack. Speaking to the Associated Press news agency from an undisclosed location, Ahsan said Thursday's attack was revenge for the police torture of the group's fighters in prison. The police who were attacked were recruited from Northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a one-time base for the Taliban, and were brought to Lahore for training, said Habibur Rehman, Punjab provincial police chief. Pakistan is battling armed groups in its northwest tribal region, but attacks in Punjab and Lahore - the country's political heartland - have been rare in recent months. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Pakistani Taliban warned of "more severe attacks in Pakistan which we have already planned and are executing". The group identified Thursday's raid as part of a "chain of attacks" that began in Gujrat. On Monday 07/09/2012, gunmen shot dead seven security personnel at an army camp less than 150km southeast of Islamabad, again arriving by motorbike, opening fire and then fleeing.   Just recently Pakistan reopened the supply routes for NATO-ISAF in Afghanistan after growing tension with the USA (see - U.S Losing Patience). The move triggered widespread anger and protests in Pakistan and renewed the conflict in Pakistan with its own militants (see - PAKISTAN'S MILITANTS). In March 2009, the Taliban launched a major attack on Lahore's police training academy, leaving at least 18 people dead (see - Lahore Academy Attack).   * Related topics ; 05/2012 -FALSE TERROR ALERT IN MUMBAI PROBABLY A PAKISTANI HOAX 05/2012 -HOSTAGE WARREN WEINSTEIN APPEARED ON VIDEO 04/2012 -HUNDREDS MILITANTS ESCAPED PAKISTANI JAIL IN BANNU 03/2012 -AHLE SUNNA WAL JAMAAT BANNED IN PAKISTAN *********************** Read more AL-JAZEERA BBC NEWS 12/07/2012 12:22:28

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